Vehicle passenger sensing and reporting system

ABSTRACT

An example embodiment of a system and methods for detecting and reporting whether passengers are seated and secured in their seats within a vehicle may include a passenger sensor configured to provide an output indicative of a presence of a passenger in a seat in a vehicle, a restraint sensor configured to provide an output indicative of a status of a passenger safety restraint associated with the seat, a transmitter configured to be in electronic communication with the passenger sensor and the restraint sensor and to wirelessly transmit data indicative of the presence of a passenger in the seat and the status of the restrain, and a reporting module configured to be disposed proximate a driver of the vehicle. The reporting module may be configured to receive the data from the transmitter, and output a respective status for each of a plurality of seats.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.16/298,200, currently pending, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S.application Ser. No. 15/974,318, both of which applications are herebyincorporated by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates to methods, systems, and modules for detectingwhether passengers in a vehicle are seated and secured in their seats ina passenger bus, car, or other vehicle, and for reporting to the vehicleoperator whether their passengers are seated and secured within thevehicle.

BACKGROUND

Buses and other mass transit vehicles generally include numerous seatswhich may or may not be occupied at any given time and safety restraints(e.g., seatbelts) that may or may not be secured properly. An operatorof the vehicle (e.g., a driver) may wish to confirm that all of theirseated passengers have their safety restraints correctly engaged (e.g.,buckled) during operation of the vehicle.

SUMMARY

An example embodiment of a seat sensing system for a vehicle may includea reporting module. The reporting module may include a displayconfigured to be disposed proximate an operator of the vehicle, areceiver configured to receive wireless communications, and a computingdevice. The computing device may be configured to determine a passengerstatus and restraint status of each of a plurality of seats in thevehicle based on the communications and operate the display to outputthe passenger status and restraint status of each of the plurality ofseats for the operator of the vehicle. The computing device may befurther configured to determine, based on the passenger status andrestraint status, that at least one of the plurality of seats has seatedand unbuckled passenger and, in response, cause a gear shifter of thevehicle to be locked in park. The computing device may be furtherconfigured to, after locking the gear shifter in park, determine, basedon the communications, that the at least one of the plurality of seatshas a seated, buckled passenger and, in response, cause the gear shifterto be unlocked.

In some embodiments, the computing device is further configured to,after locking the gear shifter in park, determine, based on thecommunications, that none of the plurality of seats has a seated,unbuckled passenger and, in response, cause the gear shifter to beunlocked.

In some embodiments, the computing device is configured to cause thegear shifter to be locked by causing a shifter lock command to be issuedover a data bus of the vehicle.

In some embodiments, the computing device is further configured toreceive data from a data bus of the vehicle.

In some embodiments, the system further includes a non-transitory,computer-readable memory, wherein the computing device is configured toreceive, from the data bus, vehicle movement data comprising one or moreof a vehicle speed, a vehicle acceleration, a transmission gear, a wheelrotation speed, a vehicle brake status, or a yaw rate. The computingdevice may be further configured to determine that the vehicle has beenin a collision and, in response, store the vehicle movement data in thememory.

In some embodiments, the computing device is further configured to, inresponse to the determination that the vehicle has been in a collision,store the passenger status and the restraint status of each of theplurality of seats in the memory.

In some embodiments, the system further includes a respective passengersensor coupled to each of the plurality of seats, a respective bucklesensor coupled to a seat belt buckle of each of the plurality of seats,and one or more passenger cabin modules, each associated with arespective one or more passenger sensors and a respective one or morebuckle sensors, wherein the passenger cabin modules transmit thewireless communications to the reporting module.

In some embodiments, each of the passenger cabin modules is configuredto transmit the state of a passenger sensor upon a change in the stateof the passenger sensor, and to transmit the state of a buckle sensorupon a change in the state of the buckle sensor.

An example reporting module for a seat sensing system for a vehicle mayinclude a display configured to be disposed proximate an operator of thevehicle, a receiver configured to receive wireless communications, anon-transitory, computer-readable memory, and a computing device. Thecomputing device may be configured to determine a first passenger statusand a first restraint status of each of a plurality of seats in thevehicle based on the communications and store the first passenger statusand first restraint status of each of the plurality of seats in thememory. The computing device may be further configured to, after storingthe first passenger status and first restraint status of each of theplurality of seats in the memory, determine a second passenger statusand a second restraint status of each of the plurality of seats, anddetermine that the second passenger status or second restraint status ofone of the plurality of seats is different from the first passengerstatus or first restraint status of the seat and, in response, output analert to the operator.

In some embodiments, the computing device may be configured to store thefirst passenger status and first restraint status of each of theplurality of seats in the memory in response to an operator instructionto store a state of the seats.

In some embodiments, the computing device is configured to determine thesecond passenger status and the second restraint status of each of theplurality of seats in response to an operator instruction to compare apresent state of the seats to a previous state of the seats.

In some embodiments, the computing device is configured to store thefirst passenger status and first restraint status of each of theplurality of seats in the memory before an ignition switch of thevehicle is changed from a running state to an inactive state.

In some embodiments, the computing device is configured to determine thesecond passenger status and the second restraint status of each of theplurality of seats in response to the ignition switch of the vehiclebeing changed from an inactive state to a running state.

In some embodiments, the computing device is configured to: determine asignal strength of the wireless communications, and according to thedetermined signal strength, output an alert to the operator that apassenger cabin module has a low battery.

In some embodiments, the computing device is configured to determinethat the second passenger status or second restraint status of one ofthe plurality of seats is different from the first passenger status orfirst restraint status of the seat, while the vehicle is moving and, inresponse, output an audible alert to the operator.

An example embodiment of a seat sensing system for a vehicle having aplurality of seats may include a respective passenger sensor coupled toeach of the plurality of seats, a respective buckle sensor coupled to aseat belt buckle of each of the plurality of seats, one or morepassenger cabin modules, each associated with a respective one or morepassenger sensors and a respective one or more buckle sensors, whereinthe passenger cabin modules are configured to transmit a respectivestate of the passenger sensor and the buckle sensor associated with agiven one of the plurality of seats upon a change in state of thepassenger sensor or the buckle sensor, and a reporting module. Thereporting module may include a display configured to be disposedproximate an operator of the vehicle, a receiver configured to receivetransmissions from the passenger cabin modules, and a computing deviceconfigured to: determine a passenger status and restraint status of eachof the plurality of seats in the vehicle based on the receivedtransmissions, and display the passenger status and restraint status ofeach of the plurality of seats on the display.

In some embodiments, each of the passenger sensors includes a pressuresensor disposed in a seat and each of the buckle sensors is disposed ina seat belt buckle.

In some embodiments, the passenger cabin modules are configured todetermine a state of the respective one or more passenger sensors andrespective one or more buckle sensors every 0.2 seconds to every 2seconds.

In some embodiments, the passenger cabin modules are battery-powered.

In some embodiments, the computing device is further configured to:determine, based on the received transmissions, that a seat belt buckleof a seat was buckled before a passenger was seated in the seat and, inresponse, output an error associated with the seat on the display.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top plan diagrammatic view of an example embodiment of apassenger vehicle in which a passenger and safety restraint sensing andreporting system may be used.

FIG. 2A is a front perspective view of an example embodiment of a set oftwo seats, each seat including a respective safety restraint, which maybe used in conjunction with the passenger and safety restraint sensingand reporting system.

FIG. 2B is a rear perspective view of the example set of seats of FIG.2A.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an example embodiment of a passengersensor that may find use in the passenger and safety restraint sensingand reporting system.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an example embodiment of a restraintextension sensor that may find use in the passenger and safety restraintsensing and reporting system.

FIG. 5A is a perspective view of an example embodiment of a passengersafety restraint which may be used in conjunction with a passenger andsafety restraint sensing and reporting system.

FIG. 5B is a perspective view of an example embodiment of a passengersafety restraint which may be used in conjunction with the passenger andsafety restraint sensing and reporting system.

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view of an example embodiment of a passengerand safety restraint sensing and reporting system for a vehicle.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an example embodiment of a circuit diagramshowing a passenger cabin module and two seat sensor modules that mayfind use in the passenger and safety restraint sensing and reportingsystem of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an example method for providing dataindicative of a passenger and seatbelt status of a seat in a vehicle.

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic and schematic view of an example embodiment ofa reporting module that may find use in the passenger and safetyrestraint sensing and reporting system of FIG. 6.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of an example method for reporting a passengerstatus and safety restraint status of one or more seats in a vehicle.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating an example method for shutting downa reporting module of a passenger and safety restraint sensing andreporting system.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating an example method of initializing areporting module of a passenger and safety restraint sensing andreporting system.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating an example method of transmittingpassenger and buckle sensor data in a passenger and safety restraintsensing and reporting system.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart illustrating an example method of comparing thestatus of passengers at multiple points in time for a passenger andsafety restraint sensing and reporting system.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart illustrating an example method of locking andunlocking a vehicle gear shifter according to passenger and bucklesensor data in a passenger and safety restraint sensing and reportingsystem.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Current buses and other multi-passenger vehicles, such as airplanes,boats, and the like, generally do not include systems for quickly,effectively, and easily determining whether passengers are seated andwhether their seatbelts or other safety restraints are properly secured.For example, commercial passenger buses generally do not include anytechniques, other than by manual inspection, for the driver to confirmthat all passengers are safely seated and buckled in. Similarly, it iscommon practice for flight attendants on commercial aircraft to walkthrough the passenger cabin and manually inspect each passenger toconfirm that each passenger is seated and that each passenger's seatbeltis buckled. Such visual inspections can be time-consuming and may beineffective, as passengers may unbuckle their seatbelts or get up fromtheir seats immediately after such inspection, unbeknownst to thevehicle operator or attendant.

Systems and methods for automatically detecting whether a passenger ispresent in a seat of a vehicle, whether that passenger's seatbelt orother safety restraint is secured, and/or whether that safety restraintis in a proper position would improve passenger safety by ensuring thata vehicle operator can be aware if any passenger is not safely securedand respond accordingly. For example, the operator may instruct thepassenger to sit down and/or secure his or her seatbelt or other safetyrestraint, or may stop the vehicle or delay movement of the vehiclealtogether until each passenger is detected as being seated and safelybuckled in.

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of an example embodiment of a vehicle,namely, passenger bus 100, which includes passenger compartment 102 andoperator compartment 104. Passenger compartment 102 includes a pluralityof passenger seats 202, with passenger seats 202 arranged in sets 200 oftwo seats 202 apiece. It should be noted that, for clarity ofillustration, not all seats 202, and not all sets 200, are designated inFIG. 1.

FIG. 2A is a front perspective view of set 200 of seats 202 that mayfind use in a vehicle, such as bus 100, for example. Set 200 of seats202 includes two seats 202. Each seat 202 may include base portion 204,backrest portion 208, seat support 214, one or more arm supports 216,and passenger safety restraint 500. Base portion 204 includes basecushion 206, and backrest portion 208 includes back cushion 210 andhousing 212. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, passenger safetyrestraint 500 is a three-point seatbelt that includes lap belt portion502, chest belt portion 504, buckle 506, and spool 508. Spool 508 may beintegrated into housing 212 of backrest portion 208, as illustrated inFIG. 2.

FIG. 2B is a rear perspective view of set 200 of seats 202. Asillustrated in FIG. 2B, each seat 202 may include rear portion 218(e.g., the rear side of backrest portion 208) and footrest 220 for thepassenger location in the seat behind seat 202. One or more powersupplies 222 may be integrated into set 200 of seats 202, such that set200 may have a common power supply 222 (as shown in FIG. 2B), or eachseat may have its own power supply 222 (that is, set 200 of two seats202 may include two power supplies 222). Power supply or supplies 222for seat set 200 may be electrically coupled to the main electricalsystem of the vehicle and thus may draw power from a battery associatedwith the engine of the vehicle, or from the engine, in an embodiment. Inother embodiments, power supply 222 may draw power from a passive powersource that is separate from the main electrical system of the vehicle.For example, power supply 222 may draw power from a piezoelectric powergenerator disposed in or on seat 202—which may generate power based onvibrations of the vehicle in which it is disposed—and an associatedpower storage device (e.g., a supercapacitor or battery). Additionally,or alternatively, power supply 222 may draw power from a solar cell 224disposed on or around the seat 202. Solar cell 222 may be disposed onthe top of the headrest at the top of backrest 208 of the seat closestto the window, for example. Such a passive power system may also be usedto provide power to the various sensors and other components of apassenger sensing and reporting system of this disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 3, respective passenger sensors 300 maybe disposed in base cushions 206. For example, passenger sensor 300 maybe disposed between the cover (e.g., cloth, leather, vinyl, etc. cover)and the padding of base cushion 206. In another example, passengersensor 300 may be disposed within the padding of base cushion 206, orunder base cushion 206. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an exampleembodiment of passenger sensor 300, in the form of a pressure sensor.Passenger sensor 300 may be configured to detect the presence of apassenger in the seat 202 and to produce an output indicative of whethera passenger is present (e.g., seated) in the seat. As illustrated inFIG. 3, passenger sensor 300 may be or may include a pressure sensor, insome embodiments. In other embodiments, passenger sensor 300 may be ormay include a proximity sensor, touch sensor, motion sensor, atemperature sensor, radar/Lidar sensor, pneumatic sensor, hydraulicsensor, or other sensor capable of producing an output indicative of thepresence of a passenger on a seat (e.g., based on the weight, heat,movement, etc. of the passenger). Passenger sensor 300 may be disposedin base portion 204 (e.g., in base cushion 206), in some embodiments.For example, passenger sensor 300 may be arranged such that apassenger's weight on base 204 closes a switch in passenger sensor 300,thereby indicating the presence of the passenger. In other embodiments,passenger sensor 300 may be disposed in backrest portion 208 or armsupport 216 of the seat, on seat support 214, or at another locationproximate seat 202 that enables passenger sensor 300 to detect thepresence of a seated passenger. Passenger sensor 300 may produce abinary output, in an embodiment (e.g., in which a first output of twopossible outputs is indicative of a passenger, and the second output isindicative of a lack of a passenger). In other embodiments, passengersensor 300 may produce a spectrum of outputs (e.g., pressure values)that may be interpreted to determine if a passenger is present. Forexample, passenger sensor 300 may output a range of analog or digitalvalues which can be interpreted to determine if a passenger is presentin the seat, and in an embodiment, may be able to quantify whether thepassenger displaces the weight of a child or the weight of an adult, tonotify the operator of the difference.

Referring to FIGS. 2A and 4, respective restraint extension sensors 400may be disposed in or on spools 508. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of anexample embodiment of restraint extension sensor 400, in the form of alimit switch, that may measure the extension of chest belt portion 504from spool 508 and produce an output indicative of that extension.Whether as a limit switch or in another form, safety restraint extensionsensor 400 may be configured to detect an extension of safety restraint500 and to produce an output indicative of an extension of safetyrestraint 500. For example, safety restraint extension sensor 400 may beconfigured to detect and output a numerical measurement of the extensionof safety restraint 500, whether safety restraint 500 is or is notextended too far, and/or whether safety restraint 500 is or is notextended enough. The output of safety restraint extension sensor 400 maybe indicative of whether a passenger is wearing safety restraint 500properly and safely, in embodiments. Restraint extension sensor 400 mayproduce a binary output, in an embodiment (e.g., in which a first outputis indicative of the restraint being sufficiently extended, and a secondoutput is indicative of the restraint not being sufficiently extended).In other embodiments, restraint extension sensor 400 may produce aspectrum of outputs (e.g., extension measurement values) that may beinterpreted to determine if safety restraint 500 is properly extended.

As shown in FIG. 2A and as noted above, safety restraint extensionsensor 400 may be disposed in or on spool 508, or in or on anotherlocation from which safety restraint extension sensor 400 can detectextension of chest belt portion 504, lap belt portion 502, and/oranother portion of safety restraint 500.

FIG. 5A is a perspective view of an embodiment of example passengersafety restraint 500′, in the form of a two-point seatbelt. Seatbelt500′ may find use in place of safety restraint 500, or in conjunctionwith any appropriate seat. Seatbelt 500′ may include buckle 506′, whichincludes male buckle portion 510′ and female buckle portion 512′, andlap belt portion 502′, which includes first and second lap beltsub-portions 514′, 516′, each associated with a respective anchor 518′.Male and female buckle portions 510′, 512′ may include respectivehousings 520′, 522′, and female buckle portion 512′ may include release524′. Male buckle portion 510′ may also include pulley-style (e.g.,spring-biased) spool 508′ for extending and retracting seatbelt 500′.Safety restraint extension sensor 400 may be disposed in or on spool508′.

FIG. 5B is a perspective view of another example passenger safetyrestraint 500″, in the form of a two-point seatbelt. Seatbelt 500″ mayfind use in place of safety restraint 500, or in conjunction with anyappropriate seat. Seatbelt 500″ may include buckle 506″, which includesmale buckle portion 510″ and female buckle portion 512″, and lap beltportion 502″ including first and second lap belt sub-portions 514″,516″, each associated with a respective anchor 518″. Male and femalebuckle portions 510″, 512″ may include respective housings 520″, 522″,and female buckle portion 512″ may include release 524″. Seatbelt 500″may further include bobbin-style spool 508″ for extending and retractingseatbelt 500″. Safety restraint extension sensor 400 may be disposed inor on spool 508″.

Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, safety restraint 500′, 500″ may include asafety restraint sensor 610 (which may be referred to herein as a bucklesensor). Safety restraint sensor 610 may be configured to detect andproduce an output indicative of whether safety restraint 500′, 500″ issecured. For example, safety restraint sensor 610 may be configured todetect and output an indication of whether safety restraint 500′, 500″or other restraint is buckled (e.g., whether male buckle portion 510,510″ is inserted into female buckle portion 512′, 512″). Safetyrestraint sensor 610 may be used in conjunction with a two-pointseatbelt, three-point seatbelt, four-point, five-point, six-point, orseven-point harness, or other passenger safety restraints. Restraintsensor 610 may produce a binary output, in an embodiment (e.g., in whicha first output is indicative of restraint 500′, 500″ being buckled, anda second output is indicative of restraint 500′, 500″ not beingbuckled). In other embodiments, restraint sensor 610 may produce aspectrum of outputs (e.g., an analog range of electrical current values)that may be interpreted to determine if safety restraint 500′, 500″ isbuckled.

In an embodiment, safety restraint sensor 610 may be disposed in, on, ornear, or may be otherwise coupled to, buckle 506′, 506″ of safetyrestraint 500′, 500″, in some embodiments. For example, safety restraintsensor 610 may be disposed in a housing of the buckle, such as a housingof female buckle portion 512′, 512″. In an embodiment, safety restraintsensor 610 may include an electrical switch that is closed when safetyrestraint 500′, 500″ is buckled (e.g., whether male buckle portion 510,510″ is inserted into female buckle portion 512′, 512″). Safetyrestraint sensor 610 may additionally or alternatively include amagnetic sensor or other sensor for detecting the closing of buckle506′, 506″ or other closure member. Safety restraint sensor 610 may beconfigured to indicate whether the buckle 506′, 506″ is open or closed.As will be described with respect to FIGS. 6 and 8, a reporting module(e.g., reporting module 602 of FIG. 2) or other hardware or software maybe configured to interpret the output of safety restraint sensor 610 todetermine whether the buckle 506′, 506″ is open or closed.

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view of an example passenger detection andreporting system 600. System 600, or portions thereof, may be deployedin a passenger vehicle, such as a bus, train, car, limousine,watercraft, airplane, or other vehicle. The remainder of this disclosurewill discuss the structure and use of system 600 in a bus. Suchdescription is by way of example only, and system 600 is not limited touse in any particular context except as explicitly set forth in theclaims.

System 600 may include reporting module 602, one or more (e.g., aplurality of) seat sensor modules 604, and one or more (e.g., aplurality of) passenger cabin modules 606. Reporting module 602, orportions thereof, may be disposed proximate an operator of the vehicle,in an embodiment (e.g., in operator cabin 104 (see FIG. 1)). Forexample, reporting module 602 may be disposed next to or in a driverdashboard in a bus. Each seat module 604, or portions thereof, may bedisposed in or on a respective seat, and each passenger cabin module602, or portions thereof, may be disposed in a passenger cabin of thevehicle, in an embodiment (e.g., in passenger cabin 102 (see FIG. 1)).Broadly, each seat sensor module 604 may detect the presence or absenceof a passenger in a respective seat, as well as whether that seat'sseatbelt or other safety restraint is secured and/or extended. Passengercabin module(s) 606 may provide power to seat sensor modules 604 andreport the respective statuses of the seats (where a state of a seat mayinclude or subsume one or more of a passenger status, a restraintbuckled status, or a restraint extension status) to reporting module602, which may display the respective states of the seats for theoperator of the vehicle.

In the example of FIG. 6, system 600 includes four seat sensor modules604, each of which may be associated with a respective seat, and twopassenger cabin modules 606, each associated with a pair of seats. Forexample, referring to FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B, and 6, each seat sensor module604 may be associated with a respective seat 202, in an embodiment, anda passenger cabin module 606 may be associated with set 200 of seats202, in an embodiment. If such an arrangement were applied in bus 100 ofFIG. 1, for example, an example system may include fourteen seat sensormodules 604 (one for each seat 202), seven passenger cabin modules 606(one for each seat pair 200), and one reporting module 602. Thisarrangement is described as an example only. In other exampleembodiments, a respective passenger cabin module 606 may be provided foreach seat sensor module 604, or a single passenger cabin module 606 maybe provided for all seat sensor modules 604, or a given passenger cabinmodule 606 may support three, four, or any other number of seat sensormodules 604.

Each seat sensor module 604 may include passenger sensor 300, restraintsensor 610, and restraint extension sensor 400. Each seat sensor module604 may be associated with a particular seat and, as described below,each seat sensor module 604, or portions thereof (e.g., one or more ofthe sensors 300, 610, 400), may be disposed in, on, or near variousportions of the seat or may be otherwise coupled with the seat so as toserve the particular function of the sensor 300, 610, 400. In someembodiments, seat sensor module 604 may omit restraint extension sensor400, and may include passenger sensor 300 and restraint sensor 610.

Each passenger cabin module 606 may include transmitter/receiver 614,computing device 616, and power source 618, in an embodiment. Passengercabin module 606 may be in electrical communication with one or moreseat sensor modules 604 for the exchange of data and electrical power.In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6, each passenger cabin module 606is in electrical communication with two seat sensor modules 604 for theexchange of data and electrical power.

Power source 618 may be configured to provide power to the othercomponents of the passenger cabin module 606 (e.g., the computing device616 and transmitter/receiver 614), and/or to one or more components ofone or more seat sensor modules 604 (e.g., one or more passenger sensors300, one or more restraint sensors 610, and one or more restraintextension sensors 400). In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, powersource 618 of each passenger cabin module 606 is configured to providepower for the components of two seat sensor modules 604.

In some embodiments, power source 618 of the passenger cabin module 606may be separate from the vehicle electrical system. Accordingly, one ormore seat sensor modules 604, and sensors 300, 610, 400 thereof, maydraw power from power source 618 that is separate from the electricalsystem of the vehicle. For example, power source 618 may be or mayinclude a passive power supply that includes a power generator and apower storage device. The power generator may be or may include apiezoelectric generator configured to produce electrical current orpotential in response to vibrations or other movement of the vehicle, insome embodiments. In other embodiments, the power generator may be asolar cell. The power generator may be disposed in or on a seat. Forexample, referring to FIG. 2A, the power generator may be disposed in acushion 206, along with passenger sensor 300; referring to FIG. 2B, thepower generator may be disposed on top of a head rest atop backrest 208.Alternatively, the power generator may be coupled to seat support 214 orcoupled to or disposed in backrest portion 208. The power storage devicemay be a battery, supercapacitor, or other appropriate electrical powerstorage device. Like the power generator, the power storage device maybe disposed in a cushion 206, along with passenger sensor 300, may becoupled to seat support 214, or may be coupled to or disposed inbackrest portion 208, for example.

In other embodiments, power source 618 of the passenger cabin module 606may be or may draw power from the vehicle electrical system. Forexample, referring to FIGS. 2B and 6, passenger cabin module powersource 618 may be, or may be electrically coupled to, power supply 222.As a result, passenger cabin module power supply 618 may be connected tothe vehicle power system separately from a power source that isaccessible to a passenger.

With continued reference to FIG. 6, computing device 616 may beconfigured to receive the output of one or more sensors (e.g., one ormore passenger sensors 300, one or more restraint sensors 610, and/orone or more restraint extension sensors 400) and to interpret and/orpackage that output for communication to reporting module 602. Computingdevice 616 may be or may include a microcontroller, or otherwise may beor may include a computer-readable memory and a processor executinginstructions stored in that memory to perform one or more of thefunctions of a computing device described herein. In some embodiments,computing device 616 may periodically read or otherwise receive therespective outputs (e.g., in analog or digital form) of one or morepassenger sensors 300, one or more restraint sensors 610, one or morerestraint extension sensors 400, and/or one or more other sensors andcause data to be transmitted to reporting module 602 that is indicativeof those respective outputs, such that reporting unit 602 may use thatdata as a basis to provide an output to the operator of a vehicleindicative of whether one or more passengers are seated and/or whethertheir safety restraints are properly and safely secured. Computingdevice 616 may receive data from one or more of sensors 300, 610, 400over one or more wired connections, in some embodiments. In otherembodiments, computing device 616 may receive data from the one or moresensors 300, 610, 400 over one or more wireless connections. In someembodiments, computing device 610 may be configured to periodicallyapply a voltage to one or more of sensors 300, 400, 610 to check thestatus of the sensor(s). In some embodiments, where a sensor 300, 400,610 is inactive, the sensor 300, 400, 610 may not draw any current, andthe sensor may only draw current while passenger cabin module 606 ischecking its status. In such an embodiment, sensors 300, 400, 610 maydraw a relatively low amount of current, enabling longer battery lifefor the seat sensor module 604 and passenger cabin module 606 where themodules 604, 606 operate on battery power. Furthermore, in someembodiments, passenger cabin module 606 may remain in a low-powerstandby mode and periodically “wake up” to an active mode in whichpassenger cabin module 606 checks the status of one or more of sensors300, 400, 610 and, if the status of one or more of sensors 300, 400, 610has changed from the most recent status, transmits an updated status ofone or more of the sensors 300, 400, 610.

Computing device 616 may exercise some control over one or more of thesensors 300, 610, 400, in some embodiments. For example, computingdevice 616 may be configured to disable (e.g., cut power to), reset,program (e.g., set the sensitivity of or otherwise calibrate), orotherwise provide input to one or more of sensors 300, 610, 400. Forexample, computing device 616 may be configured to increase thesensitivity of passenger sensor 300 and/or restraint extension sensor400 for a seat in which a small child will sit for a particular trip.Additionally or alternatively, computing device 616 may be configured tointerpret the output of one or more sensors 300, 610, 400 differently indifferent situations (e.g., a small child occupying, or being expectedto occupy, a seat), rather than programming sensor 300, 610, 400, or toignore the output of sensor 300, 610, 400 rather than disabling it.Computing device 616 may be configured to exercise such control over oneor more of sensors 300, 610, 400, and/or over interpretation of theoutputs of sensors 300, 610, 400, according to commands from reportingmodule 602, in some embodiments.

Transmitter/receiver 614 may be configured to transmit data frompassenger cabin module 606 (e.g., to reporting module 602) and toreceive data (e.g., from reporting module 602) for use by passengercabin module 606 and/or one or more seat sensor modules 604. In someembodiments, transmitter/receiver 614 may be configured for wirelesscommunications with reporting module 602, as indicated by the dashedlines in FIG. 6. Wireless communications between passenger cabin module606 and reporting module 602 may enable simplified aftermarketinstallation of the system 600 in a vehicle by eliminating the need toextend new wired connections from the passenger cabin to the operatorcabin, which may serve as a tripping hazard to passengers if not securedand placed properly. In an embodiment, transmitter/receiver 614 maycommunicate over RF, Bluetooth, WiFi, WiMAX, or any other appropriatewireless communication protocol or frequency band. Transmitter/receiver614 may be or may include an RFID tag or may otherwise transmitcommunications associated with a unique identifier.

Transmitter/receiver 614 may be configured to encrypt transmissions andto decrypt received data, in some embodiments. For example,transmitter/receiver 614 may be configured for communications with AESencryption. In embodiment, each transmitter/receiver 614 on a givenvehicle may use a common encryption key that is unique from othervehicles, for example, to avoid cross-talk between seating systemsstored in separate vehicles that travel near to each other, and also tomaintain the security of communications between eachtransmitter/receiver 614 and the reporting module 602. In addition to,or instead of, separate encryption keys, each transmitter/receiver 614in a given vehicle may be associated with a common channel, and eachtransmitter/receiver 614 may have a unique device identifier included inits transmissions, to prevent cross-talk with other vehicles.

With continued reference to FIG. 6, each passenger cabin module 606and/or seat sensor module 604 may be encoded with, or may store, itslocation in a vehicle after module 604, 606 is installed in the vehicle.Such a location may include, for example, a row (e.g., row 1, row 2, row3, etc.) and a position, which position may include, for example, a sideof the vehicle (e.g., left or right) and a specifier within that side(e.g., window, aisle, middle). For example, module 604, 606 may includeor may be associated with installation software in which a user manuallyselects the location of the seat, in an embodiment. Additionally oralternatively, a passenger cabin module 606 and/or seat sensor module604 may include external switches through which a user may select alocation in which the module 604, 606 is installed.

Reporting module 602 may be generally configured to receive dataindicative of the outputs of sensors 300, 610, 614 and to output, for anoperator of the vehicle, indications of whether passengers are seatedand whether their safety restraints are properly secured. Reportingmodule 602 may include transmitter/receiver 620, computing device 622,memory 624, and display 626.

Transmitter/receiver 620 may be configured to receive data from one ormore passenger cabin modules 606 that is indicative of the output of oneor more passenger sensors 300, one or more restraint sensors 610, andone or more restraint extension sensors 400, and indicative of therespective seats associated with each of those outputs. Accordingly, thereceived data may be indicative of a status of one or more seats. Insome embodiments, transmitter/receiver 620 may be configured forwireless communications with passenger cabin module(s) 606, as indicatedby the dashed lines in FIG. 6. In an embodiment, transmitter/receiver620 may communicate over RF, Bluetooth, WiFi, WiMAX, or any otherappropriate wireless communication protocol or frequency band.Transmitter/receiver 620 may be or may include an RFID reader, in anembodiment.

Display 626 may be or may include a computer monitor or similar generalpurpose display, in some embodiments, such as an LED or LCD monitor or acomputing tablet. Additionally or alternatively, display 626 may be ormay include a specific-purpose display. For example, display 626 may beor may include a light board including a plurality of light portions,each portion dedicated to a particular seat of the vehicle, and eachportion capable of providing a plurality of outputs indicative ofrespective states of the seat. Such states may include, for example, a“passenger not present” (e.g., “open seat”) state, a “passenger presentand not buckled” state, a “passenger present and buckled, but notproperly” (e.g., “buckle issue”) state, a “passenger not present butbelt buckled” state, a “passenger present and safely buckled” state, insome embodiments. In some embodiments, “a passenger present and buckled,but not properly” state may occur when the seatbelt is buckled, but notsufficiently extended, or when the seatbelt was buckled before thepassenger was detected, both of which may indicate that the seatbelt hasbeen buckled behind the passenger, instead of over the passenger. Thestate of a seat may also include an “error” state, in an embodiment.Each state may be represented by a particular light color or outputpattern, such as a brightness or flashing pattern, or othercharacteristic, or a combination of characteristics. In an embodiment,display 626 may include a layout of lights or light segments thatcorresponds to a shape of the seat arrangement of the vehicle.

In an embodiment, display 626 may be or may include a system of lightsor other outputs distributed throughout the vehicle so as to indicate tothe operator whether each seat has a passenger present and/or whetherthat passenger has his or her restraint secured properly and safely. Forexample, display 626 may comprise a system of lights in the passengercabin, with one or more lights placed above or on each seat, with theoutput of that light indicative of the status of that seat.

In some embodiments, reporting module 602 may include output devices inaddition to or instead of display 626. For example, reporting module 602may include one or more speakers for audible output of a status of oneor more seats, one or more vibration elements for tactile output of astatus of one or more seats, and the like.

Computing device 622 may be configured to receive data indicative of theoutput of one or more (e.g., a plurality of) passenger sensors 300,restraint sensors 610, and extension sensors 400 and to operate display626 or another output device to output to an operator of the vehicle thestatus (e.g. passenger status and/or restraint status) of one or moreseats of the vehicle. Computing device 622 may be or may include aprogrammable controller, a microcontroller, or otherwise may include acomputer-readable memory and a processor executing instructions storedin that memory to perform one or more of the functions of the computingdevice described herein. For example, computing device 622 may beconfigured to perform method 800 of FIG. 8, or portions thereof, whichwill be described below.

Computing device 622 may be further configured to store the respectivestates of one or more of the seats in a vehicle in computer-readablememory 624. Memory 624 may be or may include, for example, anon-volatile memory, such as a FLASH memory, EPROM, EEPROM, hard drive,SD memory, or other appropriate memory. Computing device 622 may beconfigured to store such states at one or more times, in an embodiment.For example, computing device 622 may be configured to store therespective statuses of one or more seats each time a respective statusis provided, or each time a respective status changes. Additionally, oralternatively, computing device 622 may be configured to store the oneor more statuses in memory 624 in response to a collision involving thevehicle, in an embodiment. Additionally, or alternatively, computingdevice 622 may be configured to store the one or more statuses in memory624 in response to a user command to store.

Computing device 622 may exercise some control over one or more ofsensors 300, 610, 400, in some embodiments. For example, computingdevice 622 may be configured to disable (e.g., cut power to), reset,program (e.g., set the sensitivity of or otherwise calibrate), orotherwise provide input to one or more of the sensors, in the form ofcommunications sent via transmitter/receiver 620. For example, computingdevice 622 may be configured to increase the sensitivity of passengersensor 300 and/or restraint extension sensor 400 for a seat in which asmall child will sit for a particular trip. Additionally oralternatively, computing device 622 may be configured to interpret theoutput of one or more sensors 300, 610, 400 differently in differentscenarios, rather than programming the sensor, or to ignore the outputof a sensor rather than disabling it.

Transmitter/receiver 620, shown in FIG. 6, may be configured to encrypttransmissions and to decrypt received data, in some embodiments. Forexample, transmitter/receiver 620 may be configured for communicationswith AES encryption. In embodiment, the transmitter/receiver 620 on agiven vehicle may use an encryption key that is unique from othervehicles, for example, to avoid cross-talk between seating systemsstored in separate vehicles that travel near to each other, and also tomaintain the security of communications between the transmitter/receiver620 and each passenger cabin module 606. The transmitter/receiver 620,and/or the computing device 622, may be configured to relate receiveddata to a particular seat sensor module 604 and/or a particularpassenger cabin module 606, based on a unique identifier attached to orincluded in the received data. One or more computing devices (e.g.,computing device 616 or computing device 622) may be configured toperform fault diagnostics (e.g., to detect and diagnose faults in one ormore components of system 600). In addition, reporting module 602 orother components of system 600 may be configured to output (e.g., ondisplay 626) an indication of one or more faults, the causes of suchfaults, and/or one or more remedial actions for such faults.

It should be noted that the term “module”, as used in this disclosure,may refer to either a physical collection of components, a logicalcollection of components, or both. For example, in an embodiment, thevarious components of one module (e.g., an embodiment of passenger cabinmodule 606) may be included in a single housing or packaging, whereasthe various components of another module (e.g., an embodiment of seatsensor module 604) may be physically separate from each other.Furthermore, the components illustrated and described herein as part ofone module may, in some embodiments, be a part of another module. Forexample, computing device 616 and/or transmitter/receiver 614 may beprovided as part of a seat sensor module 604, in an embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an example embodiment of a combinedpassenger cabin module 606 and two seat sensor modules 604. Asillustrated in FIG. 7, power source 618 may provide power totransmitter/receiver 614 and computing device 616, as well as topassenger sensors 300, restraint sensors 610, and restraint extensionsensors 400.

In an embodiment, one or more of sensors 300, 610, 400 (e.g., eachsensor 300, 610, 400) may include a single respective data output linethat is electrically coupled with computing device 616 (e.g., forunidirectional or bidirectional communication) and that is electricallycoupled with ground via a pull-down resistor 700 (for clarity ofillustration, not all pull-down resistors are designated in FIG. 7).Accordingly, computing device 616 may read the output of each sensor300, 610, 400. In an embodiment, computing device 616 may be configuredto interpret the output of one or more of sensors 300, 610, 400, as willbe described with respect to FIG. 8. In some embodiments, computingdevice 616 may also provide instructions to one or more of the sensors300, 610, 400.

Computing device 616 may be electrically coupled withtransmitter/receiver 614 for unidirectional or bidirectionalcommunication. For example, computing device 616 may provide data totransmitter/receiver 614, indicative of the output of one or more ofsensors 300, 610, 400, for transmission (e.g., to a reporting module).Transmitter/receiver 614 may transmit messages to computing device 616(e.g., messages received from a reporting module), such as instructionsfor resetting or calibrating (e.g., altering the sensitivity of) sensor300, 610, 400, for example. Transmitter/receiver 614 may operate underthe instruction of computing device 616, in embodiments. In anembodiment, computing device 616 may be configured to execute aninitialization procedure (e.g., in conjunction with a reporting module)in which the computing device 616 reports the type and number of sensorsto which it is coupled and receives and/or loads a library forinitializing the settings and functionality of the sensors 300, 610,400. The initialization procedure may also be used by a reporting moduleto establish the type, number, and layout of sensors in a vehicle.Accordingly, the reporting module may not require pre-programming beforeinstallation into a vehicle.

In an embodiment, reporting module 602 may perform an initializationprocedure upon being booted up to determine the quantity, layout, andstatus of the seats in the vehicle. An example initialization procedurewill be described with respect to FIG. 12. Briefly, upon being booted up(e.g., when the vehicle is started), the reporting module 602 may queryeach seat sensor module 604 (via communications with passenger cabinmodules 606) and wait for a response. The response from each seat sensormodule 604 may include a status of the seat sensor module 604. If noresponse is received from a given seat sensor module 604, the reportingmodule 602 may output an error state for the seat associated with thatseat sensor module.

Further, in an embodiment, the computing device 616 may be configured toperform one or more diagnostic functions, such as confirming that eachsensor 300, 610, 400 and transmitter/receiver 614 is functioningproperly, and determining and/or correcting the cause of an error stateon the part of a sensor 300, 610, 400 or transmitter/receiver 614.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating example method 800 for providingdata indicative of a passenger and seatbelt status of a seat in avehicle. For example, method 800, or portions thereof, may be performedby passenger cabin module 606 of FIGS. 4 and 5.

Method 800 may include step 802 that includes receiving data indicativeof a respective output of one or more passenger sensors associated withone or more respective seats (e.g., with each seat in a vehicle). Forexample, the output of a passenger sensor may be received directly, suchas by a computing device of a passenger cabin module, as discussed inconjunction with FIG. 7. Alternatively, the output of a passengersensor, or data indicative of that output, may be received from anintermediate electronic device, rather than from the passenger sensoritself.

Method 800 may further include step 804 that includes interpreting thedata received in step 802 to determine if a passenger is present in oneor more of the seats (e.g., in each seat). For example, a computingdevice performing step 804 may be programmed (e.g., via lookup table orequivalent) to interpret a first binary output as indicative of thepresence of a passenger, and the other binary output as indicative of alack of a passenger in the seat. In another example, a computing deviceperforming step 804 may be programmed to interpret ranges of values ofthe output of the passenger sensor (e.g., pressure values) to determinewhether a passenger is present in the seat.

Method 800 may further include step 806 that includes receiving dataindicative of a respective output of one or more restraint sensorsrespectively associated with the seats (e.g., with each seat). Forexample, the output of a given restraint sensor may be receiveddirectly. Alternatively, the output of a restraint sensor, or dataindicative of that output, may be received from an intermediateelectronic device, rather than from the restraint sensor itself.

Method 800 may further include step 808 that includes interpreting thedata received in step 806 to determine if one or more of the safetyrestraints (e.g., each safety restraint) are buckled. For example, acomputing device performing step 808 may be programmed (e.g., via lookuptable or equivalent) to interpret a first binary output as indicative ofa buckle of the safety restraint being buckled, and the other binaryoutput as indicative of the safety restraint not being buckled. Inanother example, a computing device performing step 808 may beprogrammed to interpret ranges of values of the output of a restraintsensor (e.g., conductivity values) to determine whether the restraint isbuckled.

Method 800 may further include step 810 that includes receiving dataindicative of respective outputs of one or more safety restraintextension sensors (e.g., each restraint extension sensor) associatedwith the seats. For example, the output of a restraint extension sensormay be received directly. Alternatively, the output of an extensionsensor, or data indicative of that output, may be received from anintermediate electronic device, rather than from the extension sensoritself.

Method 800 may further include step 812 that includes interpreting thedata received in step 810 to determine if one or more of the safetyrestraints (e.g., each safety restraint) are extended to a proper amountso that the passenger may be properly secured by the safety restraint.For example, a computing device performing step 812 may be programmed(e.g., via lookup table or equivalent) to interpret a first binaryoutput as indicative of the restraint being sufficiently extended (e.g.,extended enough so as to go over a passenger and/or not extended so farto be unlikely to be secured on a passenger) so as to indicate apassenger being safely secured, and the other binary output asindicative of the restraint not being extended sufficiently to indicatea passenger being secured. In another example, a computing deviceperforming step 812 may be programmed to interpret ranges of values ofthe output of the restraint extension sensor (e.g., extension quantityvalues, such as in centimeters or inches) to determine whether therestraint is extended sufficiently that a passenger may be secured inthe seat.

Method 800 may further include step 814 that includes transmitting dataindicative of whether one or more seats have a seated passenger, whetherone or more passenger restraints are buckled, and/or whether one or morepassenger restraints are sufficiently extended for a passenger to besecured by the restraint. In some embodiments, such data may be senttogether in a single transmission or single set of transmissions. Inother embodiments, data respective of a seated passenger, a safetyrestraint buckle status, or a safety restraint extension status may besent separately. In some embodiments, the data transmitted may includethe outputs of one or more passenger sensors, one or more restraintsensors, and/or one or more restraint extension sensors as that outputis received in steps 802, 806, 810. Additionally or alternatively, thedata transmitted may be or may include different data based on suchoutputs.

In some embodiments, method 800, or portions thereof, may be repeatedperiodically to update the current status (e.g., a passenger status, arestraint buckled status, and/or a restraint extension status) of eachof one or more seats for a reporting module or other electronic device.In some embodiments, a status of one or more seats may be transmittedonly when that status changes (e.g., a status may be transmitted whenthe most recent status is no longer true). In other embodiments, astatus of one or more seats may be transmitted on a regular schedule,regardless of changes.

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic and schematic view of an example embodiment ofreporting module 602. As previously described, reporting module 602 mayinclude transmitter/receiver 620, computing device 622, memory 624, anddisplay 626. As illustrated in FIG. 9, reporting module 602 may furtherinclude printed circuit board 900 (to which one or more of computingdevice 622, memory 624, and display 626 may be electrically coupled) andvoltage regulator 902.

Transmitter/receiver 620 may receive data wirelessly (e.g., from one ormore passenger cabin modules, as described with respect to FIGS. 6, 7,and 8), and computing device 622 may receive and use that data tooperate memory 624 and display 626. Voltage regulator 902 may receivepower from the vehicle electrical system 704, in an embodiment, andprovide an appropriate stable voltage for computing device 622,transmitter/receiver 620, memory 624, and/or display 626.

Computing device 622 may be electrically coupled withtransmitter/receiver 620 for unidirectional or bidirectionalcommunication. For example, computing device 622 may receive data fromtransmitter/receiver 620, indicative of a passenger status, restraintbuckled status, and/or restraint extension status of one or more seats,together with time and GPS or other location data. Transmitter/receiver620 may transmit messages (e.g., to one or more passenger cabinmodules), under control of computing device 622, such as instructionsfor resetting or calibrating a sensor, for example.

In some embodiments, reporting module 602 may include a geolocationmodule 628 that includes hardware and software for determining andoutputting a location of the vehicle. The geolocation module 628 may beor may include, for example, a global positioning system (GPS) chip ormodule. Additionally, or alternatively, a geolocation module 628 may beincluded in one or more passenger cabin modules 606 and/or seat sensormodules 604.

In some embodiments, reporting module 602 may include a data busconnection 630 that communicatively couples reporting module 602 to adata bus of the vehicle to enable reporting module 602 to receive datafrom and/or output data to the vehicle data bus. For example, the databus connection 630 may be an On-Board Diagnostic (“OBD-II”) connection,in some embodiments. Additionally, or alternatively, data bus connection630 may connect reporting module 602 to a Controller Area Network (CAN)bus of the vehicle. Over the data bus connection 630, reporting module602 may receive vehicle movement data comprising one or more of avehicle speed, a vehicle acceleration, a transmission gear, a wheelrotation speed, a vehicle brake status, or a yaw rate. Reporting module602 may be configured to store such vehicle movement data, along withpassenger and restraint status data, in the event of a collision.

The reporting module 602 may further include an uninterruptible powersupply (UPS) 904. The uninterruptible power supply may include a powerstorage device, such as one or more batteries or capacitors (e.g.,supercapacitors), for example. In an embodiment, the voltage regulatormay draw power from the vehicle power system when the vehicle isswitched on (and thus the vehicle power system is active) and from theUPS when the vehicle is switched off. The UPS may store sufficient powerto enable the reporting module 602 to complete a shutdown procedure, aswill be discussed in conjunction with FIG. 11. Power from the vehiclepower system 704 may pass through the UPS 904, in an embodiment, toenable the UPS to detect a loss of power from the vehicle and providesubstantially uninterrupted power to the voltage regulator 902. Inaddition, the power storage of the uninterruptible power supply maycharge from the vehicle power supply 704, when power from the vehiclepower supply 704 is available.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of example method 1000 for reporting a passengerand safety restraint status of one or more seats in a vehicle. Forexample, method 1000, or portions thereof, may be performed by areporting module, such as reporting module 602.

Method 1000 may include step 1002 that includes receiving dataindicative of a respective passenger status of one or more seats in avehicle (e.g., of each seat). Such data may be the output of one or morepassenger sensors, or other data based on an interpretation of thatoutput. Data respective of two or more seats may be received together,or data respective of each seat may be received separately. Data may bereceived wirelessly, in some embodiments.

Method 1000 may further include step 1004 that includes receiving dataindicative of a respective restraint buckled status of the one or moreseats. Such data may be the output of one or more restraint sensors, orother data based on an interpretation of that output. Data respective oftwo or more seats may be received together, or data respective of eachseat may be received separately. Data may be received wirelessly, insome embodiments.

Method 1000 may further include step 1006 that includes receiving dataindicative of a respective restraint extension status of the one or moreseats. Such data may be the output of one or more restraint extensionsensors, or other data based on an interpretation of that output. Datarespective of two or more seats may be received together, or datarespective of each seat may be received separately. Data may be receivedwirelessly, in some embodiments.

Method 1000 may further include step 1008 that includes determining astatus for each of the one or more seats based on received data. Thestatus of a seat may include or subsume one or more of a passengerstatus, a restraint buckled status, and/or a restraint extension status,in an embodiment. The status of a seat may be found in the data receivedin steps 1002, 1004, 1006 (e.g., the received data may, itself, be thestatus or portions of the status), in an embodiment. Additionally oralternatively, determining the status of a seat may include interpretingthe data received in steps 1002, 1004, and/or 1006.

Method 1000 may further include step 1010 that includes displaying oneor more status indicators for an operator of the vehicle based on thereceived data. The one or more status indicators may include a singlerespective status indicator for each seat, in an embodiment, that isindicative of one or more statuses of the seat. For example, a singlerespective status light may be provided for each seat, with a color,brightness, pattern, or other characteristic of that light beingcollectively indicative of a passenger status, a restraint buckledstatus, and a restraint extension status, or a sub-combination of suchstatuses, or a combination including other relevant statuses. In anotherembodiment, the one or more status indicators may include multipleseparate status indicators for each seat. For example, for each seat, afirst respective status identifier may be provided for a passengerstatus, a second respective status identifier may be provided for arestraint buckled status, and a third respective status identifier maybe provided for a restraint extension status. Respective identifiers forone or more additional or alternative statuses or combinations ofstatuses may also be provided.

The one or more status indicators may be provided on a general-purposedisplay (e.g., a computer monitor), in an embodiment. Accordingly,displaying step 1010 may include operating a general-purpose display, orone or more portions thereof, to display one or more status indicators.

Additionally, or alternatively, the one or more status indicators may beprovided on a specialized display. Accordingly, displaying step 1010 mayinclude operating a specialized display, or one or more portionsthereof, to display one or more status indicators.

Displaying step 1010 may include displaying the one or more statusindicators adjacent to, on, or otherwise with respect to a diagram orlabeled list of seats. For example, the one or more status indicatorsmay be provided on a light board laid out similarly to the appearance ofthe diagram of FIG. 1, or portions thereof. Accordingly, displaying step1010 may include operating such a light board.

Additionally, or alternatively, the one or more status indicators may beprovided in the passenger cabin, adjacent to or on the seats themselves.For example, the one or more status indicators may be provided on theseats, above the seats, on the floor adjacent to the seats, and/or atanother location that may be visible to the driver. Accordingly,displaying step 1010 may include operating one or more lights or otherstatus indicators that are disposed in the passenger cabin.

In addition to or instead of outputting the status of one or more seatsto a display, the status of one or more seats may be output in someother way. For example, an audible alert may be output if a passenger isseated, but does not have a properly-buckled or properly-extended safetyrestraint. In another example, a tactile feedback—such as a seatvibration—may be output to the operator of the vehicle and/or to apassenger if the passenger is seated, but does not have aproperly-buckled or properly-extended safety restraint.

The method may further include step 1012 that includes storing thestatus of one or more of the seats. The status may include or subsumeone or more of a passenger status, a restraint buckled status, or arestraint extension status. The status of a seat may be stored each timea status changes, in an embodiment, such that a current status of eachseat is stored in the memory. In another embodiment, a status of a seatmay be stored for seats in which passengers are seated. In anotherembodiment, the status of the seats may be stored in response to certainevents, such as a collision involving a vehicle in which the method isbeing performed. Along with the status of the seats, time and GPS orother location data may be stored. Furthermore, the status of one ormore seats (e.g., each seat) may be locked in response to certainevents, such as a collision, such that the memory may serve as a “blackbox.” In addition, as noted above, vehicle movement data may be receivedand stored in the event of a collision.

In an embodiment, one or more of the interpreting steps 804, 808, 812 ofthe method 800 of FIG. 8 may additionally or alternatively be includedas steps in method 1000 of FIG. 10. Accordingly, a device or moduleperforming the method 1000 of FIG. 10 may be configured to interpretdata received from one or more sensors (e.g., passenger sensors,restraint sensors, and/or restraint extension sensors) to determine arespective status of one or more seats (e.g., a passenger status,restraint status, and/or restraint extension status).

In some embodiments, method 1000, or portions thereof, may be repeatedperiodically to output the current status (e.g., a passenger seatedstatus, a restraint buckled status, and/or a restraint extension status)of each of one or more seats. In some embodiments, a status of one ormore seats may be output only when that status changes, or only whenthat status indicates a problem (e.g., a passenger seated but notproperly secured, or a passenger not seated in a seat for which apassenger is expected, etc.). In other embodiments, a status of one ormore seats may be output continuously regardless of status or changesthereto.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating an example method 1100 for shuttingdown a reporting module. For example, method 1100, or portions thereof,may be performed by a reporting module, such reporting module 602, thatincludes or is electrically coupled with an uninterruptible powersupply. Method 1100 may be performed by such a reporting module to avoidabrupt loss of power when a vehicle power system deactivates, whichabrupt loss of power may lead to data corruption. Method 1100 of FIG. 11advantageously enables a reporting module, such as reporting module 602,that receives power from a vehicle power system and maintains powerafter the vehicle is turned off for long enough to avoid interruptingdata transfers that may corrupt a memory device, such as memory device624.

Method 1100 may include a step 1102 that includes operating on vehiclepower. Step 1102 may include, for example, the reporting moduleoperating substantially as illustrated and described throughout thisdisclosure while being powered by the electrical system of the vehiclein which the reporting module is installed.

Method 1100 may further include a step 1104 that includes detecting aloss of vehicle power. The loss of vehicle power may be detected bycircuitry of an uninterruptible power supply, in an embodiment.Additionally or alternatively, detecting a loss of vehicle power mayinclude a computing device of the reporting unit receiving an indicationthat vehicle power has been lost from the uninterruptible power supply,for example. Such an indication may inform the reporting unit that itshould initiate a shutdown procedure.

Method 1100 may further include a step 1106 that includes transitioningto power from an uninterruptible power supply in response to detectingthe loss of vehicle power. The transition from vehicle power to UPSpower may be transparent to the electronic components of the reportingunit, in an embodiment, and may be performed by circuitry of the UPS soas to provide substantially uninterrupted power to the electronics ofthe reporting module.

Method 1100 may further include a step 1108 that includes completingpending data transfers. Data transfers may be pending in that data mayhave been received, but not yet stored in memory. Additionally oralternatively, data transfers may be pending in the sense that one ormore write operations may have begun to write data to memory, but thewrite operations have not been completed. Completing pending datatransfers may include, for example, transferring the status of one ormore seats or sensors into storage, such as the memory 624 of thereporting module 602 of FIG. 6, for example.

Method 1100 may further include a step 1110 that includes shutting downafter completing pending data transfers. Once data transfers arecomplete, reporting module 602 may execute a power-down procedure, forexample.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating an example method of initializing areporting module for a passenger and safety restraint sensing andreporting system. Method 1200 may be performed by a reporting module,such as reporting module 602 of FIG. 6. Method 1200 includes a series ofsteps by which a seating layout, and the respective statuses of thoseseats, may be dynamically created upon startup of a vehicle.

Method 1200 may include step 1202 that includes transmitting a statusinquiry. The status inquiry may be a general inquiry, in an embodiment,not a specific inquiry to a specific unit or module. In someembodiments, the status inquiry step 1202 may include transmitting bothone or more specific status inquiries to one or more specific units ormodules and a general status inquiry.

Method 1200 may further include step 1204 that includes receiving statusinformation respective of one or more seats. The status information mayhave been transmitted in response to the status inquiry at step 1202, insome embodiments. The status information may include, as describedherein, information respective of the status of a seat belt sensor, apassenger sensor, a restraint sensor, and/or an extension sensorrespective of each of the one or more seats. The received statusinformation may include, for each seat, data indicative of the locationof the seat in the vehicle (e.g., row 3 left aisle, row 3 left window,row 5 right middle, and so on). Thus, the respective locations of aplurality of seats in the vehicle may be determined based on thereceived status information.

Method 1200 may further include step 1206 that includes adding the oneor more seats for which data was received at step 1206, and theirrespective statuses, to display data. The seats may be added to thedisplay data according to the received data indicative of the seatlocations, and the received sensor status data. The display data maythus include a partial or complete layout of the seats in the vehicle.

Method 1200 may further include step 1208 that includes determining ifany seats are missing from the status information received in step 1204.Seats may be determined to be missing inferentially, in certainembodiments. For example, if data is received respective of a row 3 leftwindow seat and a row 3 left middle seat, but no row 3 left aisle seat,it may be inferred that a row 3 left aisle seat should be present.Additionally or alternatively, seats may be determined to be missingbased on previous initialization procedures. For example, a seatingconfiguration may be stored between boot cycles of the system (whichseating configuration may comprise the display data or may otherwise becreated according to method 1200, for example), and seats included inthe stored seating configuration, but not included in the data receivedat step 1204, may be determined to be missing.

Method 1200 may further include step 1210 that includes adding an errorstate to the display data for any missing seats. The error state mayinclude adding, to the display data, a respective seat where eachrespective missing seat is expected, along with an indication that suchseat is in an error state.

Method 1200 may further include step 1212 that includes outputting thedisplay data to a display. The display may thus be operated to show auser—e.g., an operator of the vehicle—a mapped layout of the seats inthe vehicle and the status of each of those seats. FIG. 1 illustrates anexample of such a mapped layout. After performing method 1200 uponstartup of the vehicle, method 800, or portions thereof, may beperformed periodically to obtain an updated status of one or more of theseats of the vehicle. Accordingly, after generating the graphical layoutof the plurality of seats of the vehicle according to method 1200, arequest for an updated passenger status and an updated restraint statusfor each of the seats may be transmitted, and responses to the requestmay be received. Received responses may include updated passengerstatuses and respective updated restraint statuses for some, but notall, of the plurality of seats. If it is determined that a response tothe request for an updated status has not been received with respect toone or more seats, the display data may be updated with an error statefor the one or more seats for which no response was received, and thedisplay may be operated to output the graphical layout of the pluralityof seats, the graphical layout comprising an error condition for the oneor more seats for which a response to the request was not received.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating an example method 1300 oftransmitting passenger and buckle sensor data in a passenger and safetyrestraint sensing and reporting system. For example, method 1300, orportions thereof, may be performed by a passenger cabin module, such aspassenger cabin module 606. Method 1300 will be described with referenceto an embodiment in which a single passenger cabin module 606communicates with, and transmits data respective of, a single passengersensor and a single buckle sensor. It should be understood, however,that the teachings of method 1300 may be applicable to embodimentsincluding a passenger cabin module 606 receiving data from multiplepassenger sensors and/or multiple buckle sensors, and/or embodiments inwhich multiple passenger cabin modules operate in parallel withrespective passenger sensors and/or buckle sensors.

Method 1300 may include step 1302 which may include checking a passengersensor status. For example, passenger cabin module 606 may apply avoltage to the passenger sensor and determine the passenger sensorstatus (e.g., whether a passenger is or is not present) based on theoutput of the sensor.

Method 1300 may further include step 1304 which may include checking abuckle sensor status. For example, passenger cabin module 606 may applya voltage to the buckle sensor and determine the buckle sensor status(e.g., whether a buckle is or is not closed) based on the output of thesensor.

Method 1300 may further include step 1306 which may include determiningthat a passenger sensor status and/or buckle sensor status has changedfrom a previously-recorded state. For example, step 1306 may includecomparing the passenger sensor status checked in step 1302 with apreviously-recorded passenger-sensor status, and comparing the bucklesensor status checked in step 1304 with a previously-recorded bucklesensor status, and determining that the passenger sensor status and/orbuckle sensor status has changed from its previously-recorded state. Insome embodiments, the previously-recorded state of the passenger sensorstatus and/or buckle sensor status may be the most recently-recordedstate. The most recently recorded states may be stored in anon-transitory, computer-readable memory of the passenger cabin module606, in some embodiments, for comparison at step 1306.

Method 1300 may further include step 1308, which may includetransmitting the passenger sensor and/or buckle sensor status inresponse to determining (at step 1306) that the passenger sensor statusand/or buckle sensor status has changed. The passenger sensor and/orbuckle sensor status may be transmitted wirelessly, in some embodiments.Only the sensor status that has changed may be transmitted, in someembodiments. In other embodiments, the status of both sensors may betransmitted in response to either sensor status has changed.

Method 1300 may be applied by passenger cabin module 606 periodically.For example, passenger cabin module may apply method 1300 approximatelyevery 0.2 seconds to every 2 seconds, in some embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart illustrating an example method 1400 of comparingthe status of passengers at multiple points in time for a passenger andsafety restraint sensing and reporting system. For example, method 1400,or portions thereof, may be performed by a reporting module, such asreporting module 602. Method 1400 may be applied as part of a “nopassenger left behind” feature, in which reporting module 602 compareslater-in-time passenger and buckle sensor data to earlier-in-time data,to determine if the same number of passengers are seated and buckled atboth points in time.

Method 1400 may further include step 1402, which may include receiving arespective first passenger status and a respective first buckle statusfor a plurality of a seats. For example, reporting module 602 mayreceive the first passenger statuses and first buckle statuses from oneor more passenger cabin modules. The first passenger statuses and firstbuckle statuses may be received at a first point in time, in someembodiments.

Method 1400 may further include step 1404, which may include storing thefirst passenger status and the first buckle status of the plurality ofseats in response to a user instruction or in response to an automaticstorage event. The user instruction may be, for example, a userinstruction to store a vehicle cabin state. Such a user instruction maybe provided by an operator of a vehicle that wishes to designate a pointin time as the “full” state of the vehicle and may be received, forexample, through reporting module 602, such as through a touch-screendisplay or other input mechanism of reporting module 602. The automaticstorage event may be, for example, a scheduled storage time (e.g., inwhich the passenger and buckle status are periodically storedautomatically).

Method 1400 may further include step 1406, which may include receiving arespective second passenger status and a respective second buckle statusfor a plurality of a seats. For example, reporting module 602 mayreceive the second passenger statuses and second buckle statuses fromone or more passenger cabin modules. The second passenger statuses andsecond buckle statuses may be received at a second point in time that islater in time than the first point in time, in some embodiments.

Method 1400 may further include step 1408, which may include comparingthe first passenger statuses and first buckle statuses to the secondpassenger statuses and second buckle statuses in response to a userinstruction, or in response to an automatic comparison event. The userinstruction may be, for example, a user instruction to check a vehiclecabin state. Such a user instruction may be provided by an operator of avehicle that wishes to compare a second point in time to a previous,“full” state of the vehicle and may be received, for example, throughreporting module 602, such as through a touch-screen display or otherinput mechanism of reporting module 602. The automatic comparison eventmay be or may include, for example, a vehicle startup or vehicle keyturn.

Method 1400 may further include step 1410, which may include determiningthat the second statuses are different from the first statuses. In someembodiments, step 1410 may include determining that at least one secondpassenger status or second buckle status from its first passenger statusor first buckle status counterpart. Such a determination may indicatethat a different (e.g., fewer) number of passengers are seated andbuckled at the second point in time than were seated and buckled at thefirst point in time.

Method 1400 may further include step 1412, which may include outputtingan error to the operator of the vehicle in response to determining thatthe second statuses are different from the first statuses. The error maybe a visible or audible error, in some embodiments, that indicate to theoperator that a different (e.g., fewer) number of passengers are seatedand buckled at the second point in time than were seated and buckled atthe first point in time.

Method 1400 may be applied by tour bus operators, school bus operators,and the like to easily determine if all passengers are accounted forafter a stop or break, in some embodiments. For example, a tour busdriver may designate a “full” state for storage (e.g., at step 1404)before stopping for passengers to exit the bus and, after the stop andafter the passengers have re-boarded the bus, the driver may initiate acomparison of the passenger and buckle sensors with the “full” state(e.g., at step 1408) to determine if the same number of passengers areon board, seated, and buckled. If not, the driver may observe an error(e.g., at step 1412) and may investigate the cause of the error (e.g., apassenger is not on board, a passenger is on board but not seated,etc.).

FIG. 15 is a flow chart illustrating an example method 1500 of lockingand unlocking a vehicle gear shifter according to passenger and bucklesensor data in a passenger and safety restraint sensing and reportingsystem. For example, method 1500, or portions thereof, may be performedby a reporting module, such as reporting module 602.

Method 1500 may further include step 1502, which may include receivingpassenger sensor data and buckle sensor data. For example, reportingmodule 602 may receive the passenger status data and buckle status datafrom one or more passenger cabin modules.

Method 1500 may further include step 1504, which may include determiningthat at least one passenger is seated and not buckled, based on thepassenger sensor data and buckle sensor data received at step 1502. Step1504 may be performed while the vehicle is in park, in some embodiments.

Method 1500 may further include step 1506, which may include causing agear shifter of the vehicle to be locked in the park position, inresponse to determining that at least one passenger is seated and notbuckled. The gear shifter may be caused to be locked by issuing ashifter lock command over a data bus of the vehicle, in some embodiments(e.g., a CAN bus of the vehicle). Such a command may be received fromthe data bus by an electronic control unit (“ECU”) associated with alocking mechanism on the shifter or transmission (such as a braketransmission shift interlock (“BTSI”), which ECU may lock the shifter ortransmission in response. Additionally, or alternatively, the BTSI ECUor other ECU may maintain a lock on the shifter or transmission until arelease command is issued; therefore, causing the shifter to be lockedmay include withholding a shifter release command. Additionally, oralternatively, a direct connection to the BTSI ECU or similar controllermay be established (e.g., over a wireless or wired connection), or adirect connection to the BTSI locking element (which may be, forexample, a solenoid) may be established, and a shifter lock command maybe issued (or a shifter release command may be withheld) over the directconnection.

Method 1500 may further include step 1508, which may includedetermining, at a point in time after step 1506, that all seatedpassengers are buckled. All seated passengers being buckled may indicatethat the vehicle is safe to move. Accordingly, method 1500 may furtherinclude step 1510, which may include causing the gear shifter of thevehicle to be unlocked from the park position to allow the operator toshift and move the vehicle. Causing the gear shifter to be unlocked atstep 1510 may include, for example, issuing a shifter release command onthe vehicle data bus or directly to a BTSI ECU or BTSI locking element.Additionally, or alternatively, causing the gear shifter to be unlockedat step 1510 may include ceasing transmission of a shifter lock command.

In some embodiments, it may be desirable to enable movement of thevehicle even though one or more passengers is not buckled and seated.For example, if the vehicle is near train tracks or otherwise in ahazardous position or location, it may be desirable to move the vehicleregardless of the seated and buckled states of the passengers.Accordingly, in some embodiments of a system configured to performmethod 1500, or portions thereof, an operator of the vehicle may beprovided with a lock override to enable the operator to move the vehiclein the event of an emergency or other situation in which it is desirableto move the vehicle even if a passenger is not buckled (e.g., a bucklesensor error). Such a lock override may be provided in the interface ofa reporting module, such as on display 626 of reporting module 602.Responsive to user actuation of the lock override, reporting module 602may transmit a shifter release command, substantially as discussed abovewith respect to step 1510.

While this disclosure has described certain embodiments, it will beunderstood that the claims are not intended to be limited to theseembodiments except as explicitly recited in the claims. On the contrary,the instant disclosure is intended to cover alternatives, modificationsand equivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope ofthe disclosure. Furthermore, in the detailed description of the presentdisclosure, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. However, it willbe obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that systems and methodsconsistent with this disclosure may be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components,and circuits have not been described in detail as not to unnecessarilyobscure various aspects of the present disclosure.

Some portions of the detailed descriptions of this disclosure have beenpresented in terms of procedures, logic blocks, processing, and othersymbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer ordigital system memory. These descriptions and representations are themeans used by those skilled in the data processing arts to mosteffectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in theart. A procedure, logic block, process, etc., is herein, and generally,conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps or instructionsleading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring physicalmanipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily,these physical manipulations take the form of electrical or magneticdata capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, andotherwise manipulated in a computer system or similar electroniccomputing device. For reasons of convenience, and with reference tocommon usage, such data is referred to as bits, values, elements,symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like, with reference tovarious embodiments of the present invention. It should be borne inmind, however, that these terms are to be interpreted as referencingphysical manipulations and quantities and are merely convenient labelsthat should be interpreted further in view of terms commonly used in theart.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the discussionherein, it is understood that throughout discussions of the presentembodiment, discussions utilizing terms such as “determining” or“outputting” or “transmitting” or “recording” or “locating” or “storing”or “displaying” or “receiving” or “recognizing” or “utilizing” or“generating” or “providing” or “accessing” or “checking” or “notifying”or “delivering” or the like, refer to the action and processes of acomputer system, or similar electronic computing device, thatmanipulates and transforms data. The data is represented as physical(electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers andmemories and is transformed into other data similarly represented asphysical quantities within the computer system memories or registers, orother such information storage, transmission, or display devices asdescribed herein or otherwise understood to one of ordinary skill in theart.

Several methods, processes, and algorithms are set forth herein ascomprising one or more “steps.” Such steps are not required to beperformed in any particular order except as mandated by logic or asspecifically set forth in the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A seat sensing system for a vehicle having aplurality of seats, the system comprising: a respective passenger sensorcoupled to each of the plurality of seats; a respective buckle sensorcoupled to a seat belt buckle of each of the plurality of seats; one ormore passenger cabin modules, each associated with a respective one ormore passenger sensors and a respective one or more buckle sensors,wherein the passenger cabin modules are configured to transmit therespective states of the passenger sensor and the buckle sensorassociated with a given one of the plurality of seats upon a change inthe state of the passenger sensor or the buckle sensor; and a reportingmodule, the reporting module comprising: a display configured to bedisposed proximate to an operator of the vehicle; a receiver configuredto receive transmissions from the passenger cabin modules; and acomputing device configured to: determine a passenger status andrestraint status of each of the plurality of seats in the vehicle basedon the received transmissions; display the passenger status andrestraint status of each of the plurality of seats on the display; anddetermine, based on the received transmissions, that a seat belt buckleof a seat was buckled before a passenger was seated in the seat and, inresponse, output an error associated with the seat on the display. 2.The seat sensing system of claim 1, wherein each of the passengersensors comprises a sensor responsive to a passenger's weight anddisposed in a seat and each of the buckle sensors is disposed in a seatbelt buckle.
 3. The seat sensing system of claim 1, wherein thepassenger cabin modules are configured to determine a state of therespective one or more passenger sensors and respective one or morebuckle sensors, and whether those states have changed, every 0.2 secondsto every 2 seconds.
 4. The seat sensing system of claim 1, wherein thepassenger cabin modules are battery-powered.
 5. The seat sensing systemof claim 1, wherein the reporting module computing device is furtherconfigured to: determine, based on the passenger status and restraintstatus, that at least one of the plurality of seats has a seated andunbuckled passenger and, in response, cause a gear shifter of thevehicle to be locked in park; and after locking the gear shifter inpark, determine, based on the received transmissions, that the at leastone of the plurality of seats has a seated, buckled passenger and, inresponse, cause the gear shifter to be unlocked.
 6. The seat sensingsystem of claim 5, wherein the computing device is further configuredto: after locking the gear shifter in park, determine, based on thereceived transmissions, that none of the plurality of seats has aseated, unbuckled passenger and, in response, cause the gear shifter tobe unlocked.
 7. The seat sensing system of claim 5, wherein thecomputing device is configured to cause the gear shifter to be locked bycausing a shifter lock command to be issued over a data bus of thevehicle.
 8. The seat sensing system of claim 5, wherein the computingdevice is further configured to receive data from a data bus of thevehicle.
 9. The seat sensing system of claim 8, further comprising anon-transitory, computer-read able memory, wherein the computing deviceis configured to: receive, from the data bus, vehicle movement datacomprising one or more of a vehicle speed, a vehicle acceleration, atransmission gear, a wheel rotation speed, a vehicle brake status, or ayaw rate; determine that the vehicle has been in a collision and, inresponse, store the vehicle movement data in the memory.
 10. The seatsensing system of claim 9, wherein the computing device is furtherconfigured to, in response to the determination that the vehicle hasbeen in a collision, store the passenger status and the restraint statusof each of the plurality of seats in the memory.
 11. A seat sensingsystem for a vehicle having a plurality of seats, the system comprising:a respective passenger sensor coupled to each of the plurality of seats;a respective buckle sensor coupled to a seat belt buckle of each of theplurality of seats; one or more passenger cabin modules, each associatedwith a respective one or more passenger sensors and a respective one ormore buckle sensors, wherein the passenger cabin modules are configuredto transmit a respective state of the passenger sensor and the bucklesensor associated with a given one of the plurality of seats upon achange in the state of the passenger sensor or the buckle sensor; and areporting module, the reporting module comprising: a display configuredto be disposed proximate an operator of the vehicle; a receiverconfigured to receive transmissions from the passenger cabin modules;and a computing device configured to: determine a passenger status andrestraint status of each of the plurality of seats in the vehicle basedon the received transmissions; and display the passenger status andrestraint status of each of the plurality of seats on the display;wherein: the passenger status is a first passenger status and therestraint status is a first restraint status; the reporting modulefurther comprises a non-transitory, computer-readable memory; and thecomputing device is further configured to: store the first passengerstatus and first restraint status of each of the plurality of seats inthe memory; after storing the first passenger status and first restraintstatus of each of the plurality of seats in the memory, determine asecond passenger status and a second restraint status of each of theplurality of seats; and determine that the second passenger status orsecond restraint status of one of the plurality of seats is differentfrom the first passenger status or first restraint status of the seatand, in response, output an alert to the operator.
 12. The reportingmodule of claim 11, wherein the computing device is configured to storethe first passenger status and first restraint status of each of theplurality of seats in the memory in response to an operator instructionto store a state of the seats.
 13. The reporting module of claim 12,wherein the computing device is configured to determine the secondpassenger status and the second restraint status of each of theplurality of seats in response to an operator instruction to compare apresent state of the seats to a previous state of the seats.
 14. Thereporting module of claim 11, wherein the computing device is configuredto store the first passenger status and first restraint status of eachof the plurality of seats in the memory before an ignition switch of thevehicle is changed from a running state to an inactive state.
 15. Thereporting module of claim 14, wherein the computing device is configuredto determine the second passenger status and the second restraint statusof each of the plurality of seats in response to the ignition switch ofthe vehicle being changed from an inactive state to a running state. 16.The reporting module of claim 11, wherein the computing device isconfigured to: determine a signal strength of the receivedtransmissions; and according to the determined signal strength, outputan alert to the operator that a passenger cabin module has a lowbattery.
 17. The reporting module of claim 11, wherein the computingdevice is configured to determine that the second passenger status orsecond restraint status of one of the plurality of seats is differentfrom the first passenger status or first restraint status of the seatwhile the vehicle is moving and, in response, output an audible alert tothe operator.
 18. The seat sensing system of claim 1, wherein thepassenger cabin modules are further configured to periodically transmita respective state of the passenger sensor and the buckle sensorassociated with a given one of the plurality of seats.
 19. The seatsensing system of claim 1, wherein the passenger cabin modules areconfigured to receive power from the vehicle.
 20. The seat sensingsystem of claim 7, wherein one or more of: the vehicle data bus is aController Area Network (CAN) bus; or the computing device iscommunicatively coupled to the vehicle data bus via an On-BoardDiagnostic (OBD-II) connection.
 21. The seat sending system of claim 1,wherein the passenger cabin modules transmit to the reporting modulewirelessly.